A Few Days In The Life, Summer 2010

These pictures capture a few random moments of life in Honduras working for Shoulder to Shoulder. One of our many mantras is: "Shoulder to Shoulder: Nothing like your old job!"

Enjoy.

How's that for a load up job, Dad?

Trucks are a big part of our life here in Intibucá. They are the key to our work, without them a lot of it comes to a stop. The general state of our organization can be linked directly to the general state of our trucks. It never fails, when there is a trip planned somewhere, we never leave enough space for what actually needs to go. An extra person or box here or there can really cramp the ride more than one would think. For example, in the photo above, I had planned on taking 3 or 4 brigade members to be dropped off along the way and a few tools to install a ceiling fan. Well, two nurses hopped on at the last minute, we had to drop off a few boxes of medications and I hadn't accounted for needing a ladder (which was silly of me, how else were we going to put up the fan?) So all told it was 10 people, a few boxes of medications, a ladder, some drills and who knows what else. Loading and tying skills are ones we value very highly here at StoS.

Indiana Brett? It is often the case that evenings are slow around here. Well the excitement for this night was that Brett shaved his beard down to a fu-man-chu. So we decided an Indiana Jones hat and machete were in order to complete the creepy outfit. How would you like to have this guy showing you around Honduras? At least he is prepared!

Dead snake on the road No. 1
Dead snake on the road No. 2
I have yet to determine whether or not these snakes get run-over or if they get killed in the bush and people throw them onto the road. But I have seen this various times. And they usually have their heads cut off. I feel like I remember seeing pictures of a snake like the first one in books or national geographic and if I remember correctly, it's pretty poisonous. This does not bode well. Looks like we caught that second one just after thanksgiving feast!

Lazy afternoon. Caught one of our brigade members enjoying a relaxing afternoon in her hammock. Thought it was a cool shot with the storm brewing in the distance. I could certainly use a few more days spent like this!

Honduran electrician...I would say this is a dangerous job but we have determined that the electricity here is not strong enough to kill anyone!

Garbage Day. The Rumpke Dump of Concepción. Not the most fun task around here.

The Three Amigos. Brett, Alex and Ben. This was Brett's last night in Honduras. He headed out in mid-july after a super-fun brigade which included his mom Mo and a bunch of other fun people. Brett's exit was a pretty big deal for us, as he is a constant source of laughter for all of us, keeping us perhaps a bit saner than we'd be otherwise. Brett is headed off to Ohio State to finish up some pre-reqs so he can eventually enter med-school.